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Life and Times of Zack Dawson
Life and Times of Zack Dawson is an American animated television comedy created by Don Hahn for CBS. The series follows the adventures of the Dawson family, Zack, Zara, Diesel, and Kimberly. The show is set in a fictional town of Bloomington and parodies American culture and society. Unlike The Simpsons, South Park, Family Guy, Futurama, Rick and Morty, and Kim Possible (''which consists of adult content), ''Life and Times of Zack Dawson was designed for younger audiences and features cartoon violence, running gags and pop culture references; but it still was aimed at adult audiences. Hahn had began working on Life and Times of Zack Dawson ''in 1981, teaming up with Kendrick Hofmeister at Slicemelon Productions. The studio pitched a seven-minute pilot to CBS in 1984, and the show was greenlit and began production. The series was originally set to premiere in Fall of 1985 with the pilot they showed to CBS earlier that year but the episode was declined to be used by CBS (until it was finally preserved on the Season 1 DVD in 2001). The producers of the show then decided to "go ahead" and air another first episode on September 10, 1986. Since its debut on September 10, 1996, 191 episodes of ''Life and Times of Zack Dawson ''have been broadcast. Its twenty-fourth began on September 30, 2018. It is the longest-running American sitcom, the longest-running animated series in the U.S., and the longest running teen series. ''Life and Times of Zack Dawson is the most financially successful and longest-running network animated franchise for three decades. Life and Times of Zack Dawson: The Movie, a feature-length film, was released in theaters worldwide on July 23, 2004, and grossed over $444 million worldwide. High School Whenever is a joint production by GoAnimate and 20th Century Fox Television and syndicated by 20th Television. In 2013, TV Guide ranked Life and Times of Zack Dawson ''the second-greatest TV cartoon of all time tied with ''Pikmin (and after The Simpsons). Premise Characters Main article: List of Life and Times of Zack Dawson characters Life and Times of Zack Dawson ''is an animated sitcom that follows the adventures of the Dawson family who reside in the town of Bloomington and live in a large suburban house. Episodes usually feature the central trio of Zack, Zara, and Diesel, though occasional storylines center on the other main characters. * 'Zack Dawson' (voiced by Steve Freeman) – A hypersensitive, cocky, yet good-hearted, outgoing, independent, and confident 17-year-old teenager. He spends much of his time with his friends and trying to impress love interest and part-time girlfriend Zara. He also likes to think of good schemes, along with the rest of his friends. Out of all the characters, Zack saw the most appearances and character development throughout the series. Zack's love for Zara is a recurring theme throughout the series. * 'Zara Dawson' (voiced by Sarah Robinson) – A pampered, kind, witty, sarcastic, intelligent, and dazzlingly beautiful 16-year-old teenage girl who is Zack's primary love interest. Although Zack thinks the world of her, she apparently likes Zack a lot, but has thought of him as a "salvageable male". She and Zack have broken up many times, but they always seem to make up sooner or later. * 'Diesel Dawson' (voiced by Ed Nelson) – An immature, overemotional, dim-witted, clumsy, talkative, childish, and yet friendly man who is Zack's dad. The two often spend a lot of their time hanging out together. He also likes to play video games and be a master of it. * 'Kimberley Dawson' (voiced by Kelly Moon) – A cheerful, happy-go-lucky, hyper, energetic, gentle, sweet, cute, and yet geeky girl who is nice to everyone in the family and is Zack's mom. She is also very good at cooking and cleaning. * 'Barfy' (voiced by Frank Welker) - The Dawson's pet dog. A running gag in the series involves Zack coming home from school and Barfy getting excited and knocking him down and licking his face repeatedly. * 'Pearl Oliver' (voiced by June Foray from 1986-2017, Grey DeLisle from 2017-present) Zara's hard-to-please mother, and Zack's mother-in-law, who is constantly disapproving of Zack and his behavior. * 'Silly Jilly (voiced by Carlos Alazraqui) - An alien exiled to Earth that helps Zack and Diesel, often against their will. * 'Joe Hopkins '(voiced by Charlie Adler) - A mutual friend of Zack and Diesel. Usually, when Zack and Diesel have some kind of falling out, Zack mentions doing something (such as going to a baseball game) with Joe. * '''Principal Slate (voiced by Tom Kenny) - Zack's principal at school. Mr. Slate suspends Zack on several occasions throughout the series, only to give him to re-enroll by the end of the episode. * Arnold (voiced by Dee Bradley Baker) - The Dawson's paper boy, whom Zack absolutely despises, mainly because Arnold is frequently able to best and outsmart Zack at a number of tasks and also because he often ("unintentionally") throws the newspaper in Zack's face. * Mayor Fudge Nison '(voiced by Jeff Bennett) - The mayor of Bloomington. * 'Uncle Tex West (voiced by Kevin Michael Richardson) - Zack's maternal uncle and a member of the Texas Rangers. He constantly holds Zack's future inheritance over his head. * Sam Slageap (voiced by Billy West) - the Grand Poobah of the Water Buffalo Lodge. Setting The primary setting of Life and Times of Zack Dawson ''is Bloomington. ''More coming soon! Development The development of Life and Times of Zack Dawson ''began in 1981, with Geo G. teaming up with Terry Ward to make an animated series that would be both aimed at children and adults. Most of the team were given duties for ''Life and Times of Zack Dawson, Craig Kellman retained his duties as art director; Craig McCracken retained his lead character design role; Phil Ortiz had his background and prop design role; along with Salene Weatherwax, the latter having a prop design role during the first sixteen seasons. The show imitated and spoofed The Simpsons, although the early voice characterization for Diesel was that of Homer Simpson. Don Hahn admitted that "At that time, The Simpsons was the most popular show on the air, and for my bill, it was the funniest show on the air. The characters, I thought, were terrific. Now, that influenced greatly what we did with Life and Times of Zack Dawson... The Simpsons ''was there, and we used that as a kind of basis for the concept." However, Tim Rice disavowed these claims in a separate interview, stating that, "I don't remember mentioning ''The Simpsons ''when I sold the show. But if people want to compare ''Life and Times of Zack Dawson to The Simpsons, then great. It's a total compliment. The Simpsons ''was one of the greatest shows ever written." Matt Groening, creator of ''The Simpsons, considered suing Four Pictures, but decided that he did not want to be known as "the guy who yanked Zack Dawson off the air". When the series went into production, the working title The Dawsons ''was changed. After spending a brief period in development as ''Zack Dawson's Modern Life, Four Pictures settled upon Life and Times of Zack Dawson, and the idea of the Dawsons having a child from the start was discarded. Despite the animation and setting, the series was initially aimed at adult audiences, which was reflected in the comedy writing, which, as noted, resembled the average primetime sitcoms of the era, with the usual family issues resolved with a laugh at the end of each episode, as well as the inclusion of a laugh track. Life and Times of Zack Dawson premiered on September 10, 1986, at 8:30 pm, and quickly became a hit. For comparison, the first live-action depiction of this in American TV history was in television's first-ever sitcom: 1947's Mary Kay and Johnny. The first two seasons were co-sponsored by Winston cigarettes and the characters appeared in several black-and-white television commercials for Winston (dictated by the custom, at that time, that the star(s) of a TV series often "pitched" their sponsor's product in an "integrated commercial" at the end of the episode). In the U.S., syndicated reruns of the series were offered to local stations in 1991. In 2003, TBS and Adult Swim aired the program. On September 2, 1994, the program moved to FouPeg Network (now Samsung Pictures Network). Production Executive producers Hahn, Hofmeister, and Brady serve as executive producers (alongside Tim Rice until season 19 in early 2005) and showrunners during the show's entire run, and also function as creative consultants. Clive Nakayashiki became an executive producer for season 15 and subsequent seasons. Writing Planning for each episode begins with a table meeting of writers, who discuss the plot ideas as a group. The writers are given index cards with plot points that they are required to use as the center of activity in each episode. A single staff writer writes an outline and then produces a script. Once the first draft is finished, the writers and executive producers call in the actors for a table read. Afterwards, the writers collaborate to rewrite the script as a group before sending it to the animation team. Voice actors Main article: List of Life and Times of Zack Dawson cast members ''and ''List of Life and Times of Zack Dawson guest stars Life and Times of Zack Dawson ''has six main cast members. Steve Freeman provided the voice of Zack Dawson. The character of Zack Dawson was originally created and intended to be performed by Tom Cruise, but turned down the role, which he later regretted, and Freeman was given the role. Sarah Robinson voiced Zara Dawson. The role of Zara was originally assigned to Debi Derryberry. However, the producers found Derryberry's voice acting too boy-ish so Robinson was given the role of Zara instead. Ed Nelson voices Diesel Dawson and Kelly Moon voices Kimberley Dawson. In addition to the main cast, Jim Cummings voiced William Johnson and Neil Ross voiced several supporting and minor characters. Like ''The Simpsons,'' Family Guy'','' South Park'' and Futurama, many episodes of Life and Times of Zack Dawson ''feature guest voices from a wide range of professions, including actors, entertainers, comedians, bands, musicians, athletes, and scientists. Many guest-stars voiced supporting characters, although many voiced themselves. Recurring guest stars include Cameron Diaz, Sarah Michelle Gellar, Allison Janney, Mark Hamill, Debra Messing, Tiki Barber, Meredith Vieria, Paul Rudd, Greg Kinnear, Chris Parnell, Patton Oswalt, Rainn Wilson, Cedric the Entertainer, Ricky Gervais, Jimmy Fallon, Kobe Bryant, Christina Applegate, Rob Corddry, Eva Longoria, Amy Poehler, Wanda Sykes, Jason Alexander, Julie Bowen, Taye Diggs, Idina Menzel, Ty Burrell, and other celebrities. Animation Several different U.S. and international studios animate ''Life and Times of Zack Dawson. With the debut of the series, because of an increased workload, Four Pictures subcontracted production to several local and foreign studios.27 These are AKOM,76 Anivision,77 Rough Draft Studios,78 USAnimation,79 and Toonzone Entertainment.80 The production staff at the U.S. animation studio, Film Roman, draws storyboards, designs new characters, backgrounds, props and draws character and background layouts, which in turn become animatics to be screened for the writers at Watermelon Productions for any changes to be made before the work is shipped overseas. The overseas studios then draw the inbetweens, ink and paint, and render the animation to tape before it is shipped back to the United States to be delivered to CBS three to four months later. Hallmarks Opening sequence Main article: Life and Times of Zack Dawson theme song The show's opening sequence is one of the show's most memorable hallmarks. The standard opening has gone through two iterations (including a brand new sequence when the show switched to high-definition in 2009). The opening and closing credits theme was a theme song that was like the Rocko's Modern Life season 1 theme song. Humor Coming soon! Episodes Main article: List of Life and Times of Zack Dawson episodes Reception Ratings Coming soon! Critical reception Coming soon! Awards and nominations Main article: List of awards and nominations received by Life and Times of Zack Dawson In 1988, Life and Times of Zack Dawson became the first animated series since The Flintstones to be nominated for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Comedy Series, but lost out to The Wonder Years. In January 2009, IGN named Life and Times of Zack Dawson ''as the ninth-best in its "Top 100 Animated TV Shows". Legacy ''Coming soon! Other media Comics The Life and Times of Zack Dawson comic strip began October 2, 1987. Illustrated by Gene Hazelton and Roger Armstrong, and distributed by the King Features Syndicate, it ran from 1987 to 1994. Bongo Comics optioned the rights to produce comic books based on Life and Times of Zack Dawson in 1993. More coming soon! Discography Main article: Life and Times of Zack Dawson discography Video games * Life and Times of Zack Dawson (1988), by Grandslam Entertainments for Amiga, Atari ST, Commodore 64, Master System * Life and Times of Zack Dawson Arcade Game (1989), by Konami for video arcades * Life and Times of Zack Dawson: Barfy: Lost in Bloomington ''(1990), by Hi Tech Expressions for DOS * ''Life and Times of Zack Dawson: Zack vs. the Space Mutants (1991), by Acclaim Entertainment for DOS, Commodore 64, Atari ST, Amiga, Nintendo Entertainment System, Master System, Sega Genesis, Game Gear * Life and Times of Zack Dawson: The Rescue of Barfy & Hairy ''(1991), by Taito for Nintendo Entertainment System * ''Life and Times of Zack Dawson: Zack vs. the World (1991), by Acclaim Entertainment for Amiga, Nintendo Entertainment System, Master System, Game Gear * Life and Times of Zack Dawson: Zack's House of Weirdness (1992), by Konami for DOS, Game Boy * Life and Times of Zack Dawson: Zack's Nightmare (1992), by Acclaim Entertainment for Sega Genesis, Super Nintendo Entertainment System * Life and Times of Zack Dawson: King Rock Treasure Island (1993), by Taito for Game Boy * Life and Times of Zack Dawson (1993), by Taito for Sega Genesis * Life and Times of Zack Dawson: The Treasure of Sierra Madrock (1995), by Taito for Super Nintendo Entertainment System * Life and Times of Zack Dawson: Cartoon Studio (1996), by Big Ape for Windows, Macintosh * Life and Times of Zack Dawson: Virtual Bloomington (1997), by Big Ape for Windows, Macintosh * Life and Times of Zack Dawson Golf (1998), by Ubi Soft Entertainment for Nintendo 64, PlayStation * Life and Times of Zack Dawson: Bloomington Bowling (2000), by SouthPeak Interative for PlayStation, Windows * Life and Times of Zack Dawson: BurgerTime in Bloomington ''(2000), by Electro Source for Game Boy Color, a remake of ''BurgerTime * Life and Times of Zack Dawson Bowling Arcade (2000), by Konami for video arcades * Zara the Killer (2001), by THQ for Game Boy Color * Life and Times of Zack Dawson Wrestling (2001), by Big Ape for PlayStation, Nintendo 64, Dreamcast * Life and Times of Zack Dawson: Big Trouble in Bloomington ''(2001), by Conspiracy Entertainment for Game Boy Advance * ''Life and Times of Zack Dawson: Zack and the Scratch of Balls (2001), by Ubi Soft Entertainment for PlayStation 2, Xbox, Nintendo GameCube, Game Boy Advance * Life and Times of Zack Dawson Skateboarding (2002), by The Code Monkeys for PlayStation 2 * Life and Times of Zack Dawson: Imagination Invaders (2003), by BAM! Entertainment for PlayStation 2, Xbox, Nintendo GameCube, Windows * Life and Times of Zack Dawson: The Movie (2004), by Blast! Entertainment for PlayStation 2, Xbox, Nintendo GameCube, Game Boy Advance, Windows * Life and Times of Zack Dawson: Hit & Run ''(2005), by BAM! Entertainment for PlayStation 2, Xbox, Nintendo GameCube, Windows * ''Life and Times of Zack Dawson: Bloomington Racing (2006), by Blast! Entertainment for PlayStation 2 * Life and Times of Zack Dawson: Minutes to Meltdown (2007), by EA Mobile for Mobile * Life and Times of Zack Dawson: Video Game Adventure (2007), by Ubisoft for Wii, Xbox 360, Nintendo DS, PlayStation 2, PlayStation Portable, PlayStation 3 * Life and Times of Zack Dawson Arcade (2009), by EA Mobile for iOS, Android, Mobile * Life and Times of Zack Dawson: Zack and Diesel of the King (2011), by EA Mobile for iOS, Android * Life and Times of Zack Dawson: Tapped Out (2014), by Gameloft for iOS, Android Category:TV Shows Category:EvanRocks Wiki